


Be Still

by Milo



Series: You've Got So Much Heart [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-10
Updated: 2015-12-10
Packaged: 2018-05-05 22:45:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5393057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milo/pseuds/Milo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a slightly different world where the Ope Ope no Mi takes less skill to use, something different happens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Be Still

Rocinante woke up.

He was cold and wet, the feather coat doing little to help. It was still snowing, though the flakes were smaller than they had been before...before he…he died. Everything had gone dark--Yes, that had happened, hadn’t it? He sat up and looked down at himself. His shirt was still stained and torn where the bullets had ripped through him. Yet there was no pain, he felt nothing.

Hesitantly, he touched the spots on his chest and relaxed when he found that they didn’t hurt. But why? He wondered. There was no possible way that he could have survived, not after that many bullets, not after losing so much blood. He undid the buttons down his shirt and grunted when the cold air hit his bare skin. No bullet wounds, or at least no fresh bullet wounds. There were some scars on his chest and old, dried blood, but nothing else.

Suddenly, he looked up. Everything that had happened came back to him.

“Law,” he breathed. “Law...shit! _Law_!”

He got on his feet, sliding around in the wet snow. The act alone tired him out, which was no surprise after everything that had happened. Rocinante looked around wildly. There were footsteps still in the snow of various sizes, some big and some small. Rocinante slowly followed after a few of the trails, trying to make heads or tails of them. He recognised a set that matched Doflamingo’s to a “T”. They were frosted over with freshly fallen snow.

It had been some time since he left, meaning the rest of the Donquixote family was gone too. If his plan had gone as he hoped, Law would be away from them now, perhaps hiding somewhere on the island. He couldn’t have gone far. Rocinante took a few more shaky steps, trying to locate any tiny footprints that Law would have made.

“Law?” he called out, the snow muffling any echo he might have made. If anyone was there, nobody answered. “Law, are you there? It’s me! It’s Corazon! I’m okay!”

Rocinante wandered along, looking for hide or hair of the little boy and his little spotted hat. Or anyone, really. It seemed as though the commotion from before had scared everyone off of the island, and into hiding. He didn’t blame them; Doflamingo’s Birdcage was enough to scare anyone into their homes for several weeks. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the entire island had gotten up and left either.

He stopped. A fairly fresh set of tracks, newer than Doflamingo’s, was at his feet. He looked both ways and noted that the tiny footprints led back up the hill where he had come from rather than away. His eyes widened.

Hurrying back, he stopped right in front of the hole where he had lain. The area underneath him was stained red and pink with some loose black feathers left behind from the coat. The footprints lead to straight to the spot. Rocinante looked around. There were no other footprints, none leading away besides his own.

Then he noticed the small snowdrift that had been next to him, so innocent and unassuming. He cursed and descended upon it, brushing the snow away quickly. He froze when he saw a tiny body.

It was Law. And he wasn’t moving at all.

“Law!” Rocinante called to him as he shook Law’s shoulder. The little boy was icy cold to the touch. “No...No, no! Wake up, Law! Wake up!”

Rocinante shook him over and over. But Law didn’t respond. He hung there limply, his head lolled to the side. Rocinante was shaking. Carefully, he pulled Law out of the snow and brushed any residue off of him. Law was smiling, his tiny fists still caught in the motion of grasping something--Rocinante probably. He ran a finger over Law’s frozen cheek. The sickly white skin patch was still there. 

Despite being so small, the body felt like lead in his hands.

Body. _Law’s_ body. Rocinante choked.

“I...I wasn’t quick enough,” Rocinante said quietly, letting out a quiet sob. “Your illness…I’m so sorry, Law. This is all my fault. I’m so sorry...”

But it didn’t make sense. The fruit should have worked to cure Law. He’d gotten there in time, and last he’d seen Law was okay enough to walk on his own. Rocinante looked down at Law’s calm, smiling face. Doflamingo’s words rang in his ears. Law’s Devil Fruit was the ultimate Devil Fruit. He’d wanted the ability to grant immortality. Immortality. _Immortality_. Rocinante put a hand over his chest.

He should have been dead. He’d accepted it, too, when he was holding out for Law. He’d accepted death. There was no humanly possible way for him to be alive and breathing. Yet here he was.

Looking down at Law, he couldn’t help but wonder if he had intervened. Law was smiling. Law was so proudly smiling. He brought his hand to his mouth in shock.

“No...Law, _no_ , you didn’t…” Rocinante said, though it was muffled by his hand. “No, no, _no_ , this wasn’t...I didn’t want you to…!” He felt his eyes well up. “Why, Law? Why would you do that for me?”

Law had no answer for him, nor did anyone else. He sat in the snow in silence, shaking from cold and emotion. He pulled Law’s frozen body close to him, but it didn’t get any warmer. Law was gone, long gone. Any resolve he had left broke, and Rocinante broke into a loud chain of sobs, tears streaming down his face.

Law should’ve gone off and forgotten him. Law should have grown up to live a happy life. He should have found a family, friends, happiness. He should have forgotten everything and moved on. This wasn’t what Rocinante wanted for him. Rocinante’s face became a heated mess of tears, dried blood, and snot as he was wracked with sobs.

He wasn’t worth the ultimate power of the Ope Ope no Mi.

He didn’t know for sure how long he sat in the snow cradling Law’s body and crying. But by the time he finally was brought back to reality, it had ceased snowing. Rocinante looked up at the sky. It was still grey and gloomy, and he wanted nothing more than to lay back in the snow. His legs were numb, his arms were numb, but it didn’t matter.

The pirates had gone, the marines had come and gone, there was nowhere for Rocinante to go. Sengoku would surely dishonorably discharge him for daring to go against his direct orders. Doflamingo was likely still in the area, too. Rocinante wasn’t exactly planning anything beyond this, he’d expected to die for Law, knew he would die for Law. It was not supposed to be the other way around.

Law was dead. Law was dead and gone. He could hardly wrap his head around the idea.

He stood up, slowly, shakily, clutching Law tightly to his chest. He couldn’t leave Law out here in the open, exposed to animals and the elements. No, no, he deserved so much more than that. A burial worthy of what he’d meant to Rocinante.

Of course there was no way he could manage that, not out here on this backwater island with no money to his name, or any resources to speak of. Tucking Law into the crook of his arm, he set off toward the building behind them. It, too, was empty, quiet as could be, which was surprising for such a large structure.

Toward the backside of the building, he found a pile of tools stacked inside of a crate, among them a simple metal spade. It was battered and covered in dents from god only knew what, but it would work. Rocinante picked through the interior of the building for any scraps. He wrapped Law’s tiny body in a white sheet he found in one of the bedrooms inside the hideout. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do.

He took Law out into the woods, far from the spot where they had died--where Law had died. The shovel hit the dirt with a dull thud; the ground below him was frozen stiff and refused to give. Rocinante stamped down on the shovel several times until it was in all the way, then he scooped out the dirt and tossed it to the side. His arms still trembled and made it that much more difficult to dig.

Rocinante looked solemnly at the mound of upturned earth, recalling his last moments with Law. At the time, he’d been so sure that Law despised him--who could blame him, really? All that time they’d been together only served to make the sickly boy more miserable, after all. And yet...Law had used his power on Rocinante. Of all the people Law could have chosen, now or in the future, he chose Rocinante. Some pitiful, clumsy marine. Law hated the Marines, didn’t he?

His lips trembled and tears threatened to overflow again. He smiled widely for but a moment before bursting into tears again, collapsing down beside the grave at his feet. The shovel toppled over beside him and landed in the snow.

Law loved him enough to sacrifice himself. All Rocinante had asked for was a happy memory.

Hours later, he still sat beside the makeshift grave. He turned Law’s tiny spotted hat around in his large hands. It was dirty now, from snow and from mud. He looked back at the mound and then up at the sky, his face still damp.

“What am I supposed to do now, Law?” he whispered.

 

                           

**Author's Note:**

> Art provided by my friend [Livvy](http://lithping.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> This story also comes with a bonus [prequel chapter](http://musasuchus.tumblr.com/post/135385905038/steady-and-straight) available on my Tumblr account!


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